State ex rel. Morrison v. Beck Energy Corp., 2013-Ohio-356 (2013)
Facts: In 2011, appellee, Beck Energy Corporation, obtained a permit from a division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the purpose of drilling an oil and gas well on property within the corporate limits of appellant, the city of Munroe Falls. The city sought to enforce five local ordinances limiting drilling within its borders after an energy company had already obtained the necessary state permits. The ordinances, however, conflicted with state law. Ohio Rev. Code Ch. 1509 regulates oil and gas wells and production operations in Ohio. While it preserves certain powers for local governments, it gives the state government sole and exclusive authority to regulate …show more content…
First, the Court found that the ordinances, which prohibited the act of drilling for oil and gas without a permit, did not regulate the form and structure of local government. The ordinances represented an exercise of police power rather than local self-government. The Court found that R.C. 1509.02 is a general law because it satisfies the four definitive conditions of a general law it is part of a statewide and comprehensive legislative enactment, it applies to all parts of the state alike and operates uniformly, it sets forth police, sanitary, or similar regulations, and it prescribes a rule of conduct upon citizens. The City attempted to argue that R.C. 1509.02 failed the uniformity requirement because only the eastern Ohio region contains economically viable quantities of gas and oil. The Court rejected this argument, stating that a general law can operate uniformly even if there is a disparate geographic effect within the state. The Court held that the City’s ordinances were in conflict with R.C. 1509.05 because they operated to prohibit what the state statute permitted (oil and gas drilling). The state statute provided the Ohio Department of Natural Resources the sole and exclusive authority to regulate oil
Facts: In 2011, appellee, Beck Energy Corporation, obtained a permit from a division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the purpose of drilling an oil and gas well on property within the corporate limits of appellant, the city of Munroe Falls. The city sought to enforce five local ordinances limiting drilling within its borders after an energy company had already obtained the necessary state permits. The ordinances, however, conflicted with state law. Ohio Rev. Code Ch. 1509 regulates oil and gas wells and production operations in Ohio. While it preserves certain powers for local governments, it gives the state government sole and exclusive authority to regulate …show more content…
First, the Court found that the ordinances, which prohibited the act of drilling for oil and gas without a permit, did not regulate the form and structure of local government. The ordinances represented an exercise of police power rather than local self-government. The Court found that R.C. 1509.02 is a general law because it satisfies the four definitive conditions of a general law it is part of a statewide and comprehensive legislative enactment, it applies to all parts of the state alike and operates uniformly, it sets forth police, sanitary, or similar regulations, and it prescribes a rule of conduct upon citizens. The City attempted to argue that R.C. 1509.02 failed the uniformity requirement because only the eastern Ohio region contains economically viable quantities of gas and oil. The Court rejected this argument, stating that a general law can operate uniformly even if there is a disparate geographic effect within the state. The Court held that the City’s ordinances were in conflict with R.C. 1509.05 because they operated to prohibit what the state statute permitted (oil and gas drilling). The state statute provided the Ohio Department of Natural Resources the sole and exclusive authority to regulate oil